Publication of Cyber Security Threat Assessment: a Historic Moment

The decision to publish for the first time the Federal Government’s official cyber security threat assessment was a milestone moment in lifting the national defences against digital attack, Macquarie Telecom managing director of Government, Aidan Tudehope, said today.

“We have entered an age where management and boards of business must assume they are under cyber attack, not wait until they are bleeding,” Mr Tudehope said.

“The assessment lays bare that cyber security is a growing issue, and national priority and everybody’s business.”

Around the world, people increasingly recognise that cyber is the new fifth theatre of war, but it is also a core threat to national economic well being.

“The Government’s decision to publish the threat is an important leadership step as it is only through being honest and transparent about threats and even the failures that we can lift the defences of everyone, business and government alike,” Mr Tudehope said.

Macquarie Telecom has a unique perspective on the cyber security threat as it provides Secure Internet gateway services to 40 percent of Federal Government agencies as well as providing services to mid tier corporations, often identified as lacking the necessary understanding of cyber security issues.

“Macquarie Telecom is part of the recently formed ACSC, the Australian Government’s cyber defence frontline.
“Yet too many businesses regard the issue as someone else’s problem, simply because they do not understand the sheer scale of the problem,” Mr Tudehope said.
The publication of the threat assessment for the first time was an important step in breaking through that complacency, he said.